John sat out on the porch staring out at the starlit sky. Partying just wasn’t his thing, he preferred to just sit outside and think about his work. It was far too noisy inside Nathan’s house and he wouldn’t want to hand in his work late. He was a prefect, not a cocky, self-important and definitely not someone who boasts. He was just an ordinary prefect, what prefects are supposed to be. It would definitely be a letdown if the teacher knew that he didn’t hand up. But, rather than bring his worksheets with him like he would instinctively, he decided to relax for awhile. After all, Nathan was his best friend and he didn’t want to be a letdown to him either.
Nathan was a smart, good, but extremely playful and hyperactive. He would overreact during classes, such as dancing around or running from table to table and this caused John much embarrassment. Nevertheless, John still acknowledged him as a good friend, exactly because of his personality. But, some people hated him as much as John liked him, and that was Mark, the school bully. Mark even had his own little gang which he assembled. The gangster of the school, he was feared by all, even certain teachers. He was not really scared of anything, and he wasn’t that dumb either. He may not look it, but he was quite a smart boy. He knew the weaknesses of those he particularly hated, and could manipulate them and control other students to do other dirty deeds, truly a menace. John stared at the twilight horizon until he heard a soft murmur coming from behind the house. “…and then splash him with the garden mud! We’ll just say Cody did it! Nathan and his parents will never know…” The low but soft voice said. “Exactly! We’ll frame Cody and we’ll get away! Just put the bucket on the door right?” Another voice said. This time it was a scrawny and snappy voice. John knew those voices, in fact, he heard them every day! The low voice was Mark, and the scrawny one was Justin. Justin was like Mark’s right-hand man, always repeating what Mark said. He knew who Cody was too. Cody was the class joker, but he was definitely not so nasty as to spray Nathan with mud. Who would believe it! He was about to tell Cody and Nathan but then he stopped in his tracks. Once he had forgotten to do his homework and copied secretly from Nathan. This Mark saw and made a deal with him. Mark told him that if John tried to spoil anything he planned up and accidently found out, Mark would tell. No doubt if he told he would save Nathan his dignity and prevent him from being splashed by mud. But Mark would go straight to the teacher and tell. Now the question was: Losing his prefect position and dignity or, Nathan’s embarrassment. His mind was like a civil war, not able to decide which side was good and which side was bad, or perhaps, there were no sides at all. The only thing, he realized, was that it would do good to help a friend and tell the truth about him copying answers. On the other side, losing his prefect tie was considered a bad thing to him. He chose losing his prefect position. As far as he was concerned it was politically correct.
Nathan tried to stop John from telling his mother. “Wait!” Nathan said. “I know that Mark is going to splash me with mud so I’ll try to avoid it.” “You’ll never know where the bucket is. So you can’t risk it.” John said. “No…” Nathan tried again, but John just went to his mother.
Mark, as predicted, took off to the teacher the next day and reported John. That night during the birthday party Mark not only lost the chance of embarrassing Nathan but he also got scolded by Mrs. Tay (Nathan’s mother). The teacher asked John to stand up.
“Why did you copy Nathan’s work at that time? You better give me a good answer or I will strip you of your prefect tie!” She scolded.
“Well I…” John couldn’t reply.
Bam! Just like that, his prefect tie was gone.
But, he was relieved.
Comment by Tianyi:
spelling
Comment2 by Tianyi:
Will he lose his prefect position because of a simple thing? (John is expected to be really the best prefect and no one would ever think he could do such a thing, get the idea? Maybe i should put him as head prefect or something...)
Comment by Tay Kiat Jun:
Actually, i think the story is a little slipshod, because someone's prefect tie would not be stripped if he copied merely answers.
Comment by Max
Very good on the characterization... I can already see that you used yourself for Nathan, Kiat Jun for John and obviously me for Mark....
Nathan was a smart, good, but extremely playful and hyperactive. He would overreact during classes, such as dancing around or running from table to table and this caused John much embarrassment. Nevertheless, John still acknowledged him as a good friend, exactly because of his personality. But, some people hated him as much as John liked him, and that was Mark, the school bully. Mark even had his own little gang which he assembled. The gangster of the school, he was feared by all, even certain teachers. He was not really scared of anything, and he wasn’t that dumb either. He may not look it, but he was quite a smart boy. He knew the weaknesses of those he particularly hated, and could manipulate them and control other students to do other dirty deeds, truly a menace. John stared at the twilight horizon until he heard a soft murmur coming from behind the house. “…and then splash him with the garden mud! We’ll just say Cody did it! Nathan and his parents will never know…” The low but soft voice said. “Exactly! We’ll frame Cody and we’ll get away! Just put the bucket on the door right?” Another voice said. This time it was a scrawny and snappy voice. John knew those voices, in fact, he heard them every day! The low voice was Mark, and the scrawny one was Justin. Justin was like Mark’s right-hand man, always repeating what Mark said. He knew who Cody was too. Cody was the class joker, but he was definitely not so nasty as to spray Nathan with mud. Who would believe it! He was about to tell Cody and Nathan but then he stopped in his tracks. Once he had forgotten to do his homework and copied secretly from Nathan. This Mark saw and made a deal with him. Mark told him that if John tried to spoil anything he planned up and accidently found out, Mark would tell. No doubt if he told he would save Nathan his dignity and prevent him from being splashed by mud. But Mark would go straight to the teacher and tell. Now the question was: Losing his prefect position and dignity or, Nathan’s embarrassment. His mind was like a civil war, not able to decide which side was good and which side was bad, or perhaps, there were no sides at all. The only thing, he realized, was that it would do good to help a friend and tell the truth about him copying answers. On the other side, losing his prefect tie was considered a bad thing to him. He chose losing his prefect position. As far as he was concerned it was politically correct.
Nathan tried to stop John from telling his mother. “Wait!” Nathan said. “I know that Mark is going to splash me with mud so I’ll try to avoid it.” “You’ll never know where the bucket is. So you can’t risk it.” John said. “No…” Nathan tried again, but John just went to his mother.
Mark, as predicted, took off to the teacher the next day and reported John. That night during the birthday party Mark not only lost the chance of embarrassing Nathan but he also got scolded by Mrs. Tay (Nathan’s mother). The teacher asked John to stand up.
“Why did you copy Nathan’s work at that time? You better give me a good answer or I will strip you of your prefect tie!” She scolded.
“Well I…” John couldn’t reply.
Bam! Just like that, his prefect tie was gone.
But, he was relieved.
Comment by Tianyi:
spelling
Comment2 by Tianyi:
Will he lose his prefect position because of a simple thing? (John is expected to be really the best prefect and no one would ever think he could do such a thing, get the idea? Maybe i should put him as head prefect or something...)
Comment by Tay Kiat Jun:
Actually, i think the story is a little slipshod, because someone's prefect tie would not be stripped if he copied merely answers.
Comment by Max
Very good on the characterization... I can already see that you used yourself for Nathan, Kiat Jun for John and obviously me for Mark....